Mechanism for treating leaves



Sept 18,1934. J. GOUGH 1,973,806 v MEC'HNISM FOR'TREATING LEAVES Patented Sept. 18, 1934 1,973,806 y p MnoHANIsM For. TREATING L EAvEs Joseph. Gough, Newark, N. J., assignor to Gough'- Stemming Machine v Corporation, New Yorkg N. Y., a corporation of New Jersey Application November 5, 1932,- seriai No. 641,343

16 Claims.

My invention relates to machines for stemming leaves, i. e. to machines for removing more or less of the long central vein or mid-rib from the blades of leaves, such as are used for example for stemming tobacco leaves.

.It provides an improved device for removing those parts of the leaf blades that the stemming operation proper is unable to remove from the stems. Further it provides for more or less yseparating the stems wherever a number of leaves are more or less hunched together, and for breaking up the suckers, so-called, which accompany tobacco leaves for example, and sometimes interfere with the stemming operations; and it also lprovides for making the said stem cleaning device, or another performing substantially the same functions, effective on stems of leaves that are more or less bunched together. Still further, itv provides a device for cleaning stems thatis .capable of (zo-operating with stemming machines of the type to which the operator delivers the leaves more or less in bunches or masses.

The invention can be explained best in connection with the particular stemmingmachine .embodying it rather diagrammatically illustrated in the accompanying drawing in which-Fig. 1`

cleaner and device for separating bunched stems,

of the same machine, drawn to a somewha larger scale. 1t will be understood of course that my inven- 351tionis not limited to the particular machine shown in the accompanying drawing, and of this machine illustrated only substantially so much is shown as is necessary to enable the invention to be explained.` Generally speaking, the stemjming machine illustrated is well-known. It has a belt 1 of card clothing to carry the leaves to the stemming station and strip the blades from the leaves as the stems are grasped between a pair of driven belts 2 and 3 and thereby pulled away from the blade stripper 1 (pulled upwardly in Fig. 1). This blade stripper-or card clothing belt 1 is mounted on suitable pulleys 4, 5 etc., and in a machine of the type here illustrated, is driven continuously in the direction indicated by the 'arrows in Fig. 2, the stems being pulled from the blades as the blades are carried past the stemgrasping belts 2 and 3. The stemmed blades are delivered at the right-hand end of the machine in Figs. 1 and 2, and the stems are thrown out to "the back of the machine by the belts 2 and 3 l (upwardly in Fig. 1). The upper card clothingVV belt 9, mounted on suitable pulleys 10, 11 etc.,V

serves to prevent the possible escape of the blades from the stripper l; this belt 'lmay be drivenl positively, say through its pulley 10 or 11, or it may be driven by the engagement of its teeth withthe teeth of thel driven lower card cloth.- 1 ing 1.

To the left or at the entrance end of the mal' chine, is a conveyor to feed the leaves to the card belts; in the present instance, this conveyingmechanism has the form of a pair of chain belts smooth surfaced belts to support the tip ends` of the blades in transit. These belts may be mounted on any suitably disposed pulleys orl sprocket wheels, and are driven in synchronism. To the latter end all of these belts may have supporting sprockets 18 and 19, or supporting pulleys 20, all keyed to a common driving shaft 21 driven,

say, from the longitudinal shaft 22 which may` receive its power from the' same ysource as drives the blade stripper 1 and the stem belts2 and 3. Usually I drive these conveyor beltsv 14, `15 and 17 intermittently, i. e. step by` step. In the rnan chine illustrated, this is the function 'of the pawl 23, and the co-operating ratchet 24 keyedto the shaft 21; a crank 25 andlinkZG enables the shaft 22 to oscillate the bracket. 27 loose onthe end of shaft 2l which carries the pawl 23, so that the drive shaft 21 is turned intermittently, orlstep.

by step, and'thereby the conveyor belts 14, 15 and 17 advanced in the same manner. Plates 30 and 3l, carried'by brackets 32 and pressed downwardly therefrom by the springs 33, serve to press and hold the leaves between the propelling pins 16. At the' exit en'd of the propelling belts 14 and 15, an inclined plate 34 rising from betweenl these belts liftsy the 'leaves' to apo'sition nearly above the tops of the projecting pins'l (see Fig.

2), while an lupper cio-operating plate 35 helps to maintain control of the leaves. 'of these belts is adjacent the card clothing on pulley 10. In practice Athe operator tears the large bunches of leaves apart into smaller bunches or masses, each containing a few leaves, and Ilays these small bunches or masses'on the conveyors, as is apparent from Fig. l. The conveyors carryV these masses along, step by step, and present them seriatim to the card clothingfbelt aad-jacent? the plates 34 and 35. This cardclothing being in continuous movement, and being driven ata suifif;

small bunches one or two at a time, and carries them down into engagement with the stripping belt 1; a downwardly curved extension 36 of the plate 34, and parallel curved plates 37 serve to 'p5 guide the leaves in this downward movement, the

plate extension 36 also aiding to thrust the leaves well into .thegrip of the yteeth ofthe :card clothing 9; wiresor-other guides `39 placedfabove the leaves and more or less curved concentric with the guide plates 37 may be used to keep the leaves from rising from the guide plates. A lower curved plate 40 (see Fig. 2) together with `springs 41 carried by it, serves to support'the guide 36 and at the same time permit the latter to yield away from the card clothing .-9, las the sizes of the leaves may demand.

It will be understood of course that the mechanism so far described is already known, land that while the leaves are delivered to the Aleft-hand end of the machine, more or less bunched together (as1illustrated at .fthe "left of Fig. 1) they are delivered to the-stemming station more or less seriatm, as 'will' Zbe evident from the leaves illustrated Lat `lthe right-hand end lof Fig. il.

" As will be apparent from `the leaves shown at Butters,-so-called have been `employed heretofore tocleanthe Abutt ends of stems. My present stem cleaner is preferable Ahowever to .any prior butter :of which ZI fam aware. VEssentially Athis stemlcleanerficonsists of acarrying .body-46 and a plurality fof .projecting :more or 'less wire-like members 74?. 'Necessarily (.insorderthat'the body 46 rmay .drive the cleaning members 47) ,the body 46 vimust be ymade -up :of lor iincorporate .a more or less A'rigid material, Aand if. 'the wire-'like projecting members 47 .are .mounted .directly .and rigidly in displacedzas 'and'when necessary to preserve them frombendingcr breaking.; lto this end, generallysspeaking, II make ithe .connection between the.

wires '47 .and the 'more or less `rigid body 46 so yielding that at aspeed somewhat `vless'than norma'lthis connection :can `yield `sufficiently nto'jpermit the (':lveaning `members 47 to pass over :the stems substantially without cleaning the stems.

`WI'hensin order'to clean the stems, :I fdrive the rigid body 46 atsuchfafspe'ed asto carry'the cleaning members 47 .into and lover the stems :so `rapidly that i.they serve to fclean vthe stems, in part by their own momentumas it were. To form such f 1a connection lbe'tweena rigid .member 46an'd'projecting 'wire-like members 47, .fthe tmembers 47 may ibeihel'diina flexible'm'einber or :members 43, clamped to the-.rigid 'body `46 ('see Figs.3 and 4), but withth'e :wire-like members '47 :entirely out- -side the `rigid body 46; that is vto ssay, I may.

mountthe -wire-'Iike members 47 in a portion 'of the'arrying member '148 `which is flexible externalllypf '.thebodyli oflrigid material. -Pre'fv erably fthe'cleaner isa zrotarys'tructure; that is Ito 1 say, :the-'member 46 "constitutes `a hub asiit were,

from which the flexible carriers 48 project more' or less spoke-like, and from which carrying members 48 the wire-like cleaning members 47 project more or less spoke-like also. The flexible projecting members 48, while affording a quite yielding connection between the wire-like members v47 vand the rigid material 46, `can properly be made .stiff enough to hold .the members 47 straight out, spokelike, when the device is at rest. Each projecting member 48 may consist of va ystrip of rubber, or canvass-backed rubber, etc. this may be folded on itself and perforated at the crease for the passage of the projecting wire-like members 47, the latter being formed together in pairs, 'the legs of each U-shaped pair projecting through these holes in the crease while each cross piece of the U is contained within the fold of the material; conveniently the folded member ican .be-stood'in recesses in the hub 46 and therein fastened by clamping members 49 held to the hub by screw vbolts 50 for example, all as will be .apparent from Figs. 3 and 4. This rotary cleaning structure may be rotated at .adequate vspeed to have the centrifugal'forcesof the wire-likeimembers 47 co-operate in the :cleaning of the Astems inthe manner before indicated, by means fof .its attached sprocketwheel'51 and driving.chain-52, driven from the power shaft 53 indicated :in Fig. 1. Usually I provide a surface to .support the leaf stems immediately underneath the cleaner; with the vrotary vform of cleaner described .and illustrated, I nd it preferable .to :make this :support54 (Fig. v3) arcuate, so as to hold fthe leaf stems in the paths of the cleaning members -47 for some little distance, .as will be understood. 1'10 It will be understood .of course `that ithe ablade material .broken Ifrom the stems :by this cleaner passes to the lback ofthe machine, as indicated at 55 in Fig. '3. As will be Aapparent from lFig. 4 also, the wire-'like .members .are preferably .arranged in lrows .parallel with the .axis of the hub 46; the number of rows is of no :great concern; usually I use four rows equiangularly spaced fcircumferentially ofthe hub. Usually I space each two wire-like members 47 of va ;row., a distance apart about equal to or a littleless than the ,diameter .ofthe average stem ito be cleaned by the cleaner. I .might add vthat -I `have used for the cleaning members 47 rather stiff steel wires, each about fifty one-thousandths of an .inch ,in adiameter.

While such a stein cleaner .is quite adequate for stems that are somewhat separated from each other, it does `not fact .with'the ihighes't 'efficiency when a number of stems `are l*more or less intertwined :together like the butt vends of Vthe leaves shown at the left of Fig. 1. Such a .limitation is Ifound valso @in all prior stem butters of which I am aware. Toenable the :stem butting kor cleaning to lbe carried on where the `stems approach the apparatus bunched or intertwined, I yprovide la comb, as it were, vto comb out the intertwined stems, and :lay fthe stems more or less parallel to each other andmore or :less

separated ffrom each other; the 'action will 'be apparent by contrasting the stem Abuttssshown Imatterlthat `may accompany the leaves, such as `150" As further illustrative of the matter,

stones,- pieces off-Wood, etc.' Preferably the ends.` of the teeth59 are slabbedrat opposite sides,- as.

willbeapparent from Figs.'3and 4, andpreferably theseteeth are somewhat bent backwarda as `appears inl Figs3. V,Byjway oi example, I mayl say thatiorthe lteeth 59.l I-,have'employed stiff steel .Wires 'from three thirty-seconds vto onearrange these wires in pairs, aszillustrated in Fig. 4, and usually I use about four pairs around;

the circumference ofY the hubythe distance betweenthe two wires of each p'ainI- usually make lil lic stems in a direction.'substantially parallelto the ating chain 6l, also driven `from'tl'iedrive shaft.

53. `Usually I drive the combvand any co-'operatcomb at such a high speed asthestem butter or stem .cleanergland 'this seems to be particularly true when the stem cleaner is such a one as that illustrated at 45, 4:7, 43. Underneath the comb, the stems are preferably supported, genu 'erally in the same manner as they are supported underneath the stem cleaner; that is to say, for example the curved member 54 may be extended to a position underneath the comb. Such a comb may be used wherever it is desirable to separate stems bunched together, as will be understood. In working on the stems, it serves to break up any suckers so-called that may be present; it may indeed be used simply for purpose of breaking up suckers, even when there is no need for it as a device for separating the stems. In co-operating with the stem cleaner before described, or any suitable form of stem butter, it provides a device capable of properly cleaning stems presented to the cleaning device in a more or less bunched and intertwined condition.

Furthermore, together the comb and cleaner or butter constitute a stem-cleaning mechanism adapted to co-operate with a stemming machine having a feeder, or otherwise mechanism so arranged that it is adapted to receive the leaves to be stemmed in bunches.

It will be understood that my invention is not limited to the details of construction and operation illustrated in the accompanying drawing and described, except as appears hereinafter in the claims.

1. In a stem cleaning mechanism, a carrying body of substantially rigid material, a yielding member carried by said rigid material, a plurality of cleaning members carried by and projecting from said yielding member, and means to drive said carrying body to pass said cleaning members over stems presented to them, said means passing said cleaning members over the stems in a direction substantially parallel to the stems.

2. In a stem cleaning mechanism, a plurality of cleaning members, carrying means for said cleaning members, the connection between said carrying means and said cleaning members normally holding said cleaning members projected substantially in cleaning position but being so yielding that at a speed somewhat less than normal said connection can yield sufliciently to permit said cleaning members to pass over the stems substantially without cleaning the latter, and means for moving said carrying member, to pass said cleaning members over the stems, at such a higher speed that the cleaning members substantially clean the stems.

3..In a stem cleaning mechanism-a carrying body of substantially rigid material, a member projecting from the rigid material of said body,

said member being flexible externally of the body of rigid material, a plurality of cleaning members projecting from said projecting member, said vcleaning members being mounted entl'elyin a eighth of an inchvin diameter each.;,Usuallyfl portion ofV said projecting member which isflexv ible externally of saidnrigid material, and means to .drive said carrying bodyto pass said cleaning members over stems presented to them, `said passing said vcleaning members over the stems. l. .s

4. vIn ast-em cleaning mechanism, arotatable carrying body of substantially rigid material,` a

plurality l of members projecting vfrom said` body ing butterl or stem cleaner 46-47 separately, bef4 cause usually itv is not necessary to drivathef at A different points around the periphery thereof, said membersbeing fiexibleexternally ofy the-body of-rigid material, a plurality ofcleaning mem-- bers projectingfrom said ,projecting members, l, said cleaning members being mounted entirely in portions of said projecting members that are flexible externally of said rigid material, and

means to rotate said carrying body to pass said s,

cleaning members over stems presented to them, said means rotating said body on an axis which extends substantially transversely across said stems.

5. In a stem cleaning mechanism, a hub mem- 1 ber, a plurality of projecting cleaning members carried thereby, said cleaning members being distributed about said hub both circumferentially and axially of the hub, and the connection between each of said cleaning members and the hub 1 normally holding said cleaning members projected substantially in cleaning position but being so yielding that at a speed somewhat less than normal said connections can yield sufliciently to permit said cleaning members to pass over the 1 stems without substantial cleaning cooperation therewith, and means to rotate said hub at such a higher speed that the cleaning members substantially clean the stems.

6. In a stem cleaning mechanism, a hub mem- 1 ber, a plurality of flexible members projecting spoke-like therefrom, a plurality of wire-like members projecting from said exible members, the ends of said Wire-like members nearer the hub axis being external of the periphery of the 1 hub continued through said flexible members.

7. The combination of the subject matter of claim 2, with means providing a surface to support the stems within the paths of said cleaning members.

8. The combination with the subject matter 0f claim ll, of means providing a concave surface to support the stems within the path of the ends of said projecting members.

9. The combination with the subject matter of 1 claim 5, of means providing a curved surface to support the stems within the path of the cleaning ends of said cleaning members.

10. In a leaf treating machine, a comb, means for supporting the stems of leaves, and means for moving said comb through the supported stems, characterized by the fact that the teeth of said comb are bent backwards.

l1. In a leaf treating machine, a hub member, a plurality of members projecting spoke-like therefrom, said members being distributed about the hub both circumferentially and axially of the hub, and said members being suiiiciently rigid, and sufliciently rigidly mounted in said hub, to pass between and separate overlapping leaf stems 1 when said hub is rotated, but sufliciently yielding to pass overhard.` matter without breaking and means for rotating the hub. 12. The combination with the subject matter of claim 11,v of means to support leaf stems in the paths rof said projecting members.

13. The subject matter of claim 11, characterized by the fact that said projecting members are arranged-in a plurality of rows, each row extending substantially parallel with the axis of the hub. j

14'. In a leaf treatingA machine, the combination of a comb, means to move the comb through `the leaf stems, and means to the rear of said comb to clean the portions of the stems operated on by said comb. l

15. In a leaf treating machine, the combination of a rotary comb, means to rotate said comb to separate the leaf stems, a rotatable carrying body of substantially rigid material to the rear of -said comb, a plurality vof members projecting from said body at diiferent points around' the periphery thereof, said members being flexible externally ofv the body of' rigid material, a plurality of cleaning members projecting from said projecting members, said cleaning members being mounted entirely inportions of saidA projecting members that are flexible externally of said rigid.

material, and means to rotate said carrying body to pass said cleaning members over stems presented to them.

16'. The combination with a stemming machine including a mechanism adapted to receive leaves in bunches, of a comb, means to move the comb through the butt ends of the leaf stems to separate the same, andv means to the rear of said combvto clean said butt ends, said comb and the last mentioned means being located adjacent a portion of said mechanism wherein the leaves are in bunches and operating on leaves carried by the said mechanism.

JOSEPH GOUGH. 

